Twists and Turns of Fate
by Geekerific-1017
Summary: What are you supposed to do when your best friend is murdered leaving his sixteen year old daughter in your care? Carlton doesn't know but with Shawn's help he might just find out. If that's not your glass of pineapple juice then don't read.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Sorry for the wait on this one...things got in the way. Hopefully I'll be able to post a new chapter each week but I can't make any promises. Also, I feel a litte iffy on the title so if you guys have any suggestions...wink wink nudge nudge. Right now the title is from the song 'Little Wonders' by Rob Thomas. As always, this is unbeta'd so all mistakes are my oopsie.

**DISCLAIMER:** _I do not own Psych or any of its characters nor do I own Rob Thomas or his song 'Little Wonders'. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

It was a dark and stormy night…

Because that's how all these types of stories start out. All dark and stormy with bright flashes of lightning and thunder so loud one would think that thousands of bombs were going off simultaneously.

Anyway, it was a dark and stormy night in the city of Santa Barbara. Trees were swaying threateningly to this way and that giving off the impression that at any moment they would crack and come crashing down. Water was pooling in the streets daring any car brave enough to drive through it; turn around, don't drown. Debris flew from every direction due to the harsh, whipping winds that were tearing through the air. Every television set in every household urged every resident to evacuate the area; come on folks, get the hell out of town or-

Actually, it was a fairly calm night with a nice, light breeze flying through every now and then but, come on, how dramatic and exciting is that? It's more interesting to stick with the whole 'It was a dark and stormy night' approach.

Oh, you want the truth you say? Are you sure? I must warn you the truth isn't very entertaining. Absolutely no pizzazz to speak of.

You _still_ want the truth you say?

Well, if you insist.

~*~

Carlton sat at his desk holding his head in his hands. He was exhausted and a certain pain in his ass wasn't helping matters at all.

"Come on Lassie-pop, it'll be fun. Are you still mad about the last time? Look, if it'll make you feel any better I can promise you that this time there will be no pink boas or drunken drag queens singing 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'."

Carlton sighed. He knew the pseudo-psychic wouldn't let up until he said yes and he was beginning to think he had no way out.

"Go away Spencer. Besides, even if I wanted to go, which I most certainly do not, I can't. I have a mound of paperwork on the Harrison case that needs to be finished." Carlton said as he sighed again.

He really didn't want to be dealing with Shawn at the moment. He had spent over three weeks working on that damn Harrison case, going over every last tiny detail with a fine-tooth comb and not finding anything to nail the suspect with. Then in walks Shawn Spencer who solves it in less than three hours.

Thomas Harrison, a wealthy businessman, was found dead in his uptown Santa Barbara home by his maid a little over three weeks ago. Of course, Carlton's first thought was to go after Harrison's ex-wife. She had motive, means and no alibi. Harrison divorced her two months prior and while Harrison walked away with his millions back to his lavish four story mansion, she got nothing. Zilch. Nada. Carlton had seen it all before, the whole 'ex-wife kills wealthy ex-husband for blah, blah, blah' shtick. He'd spent over three weeks trying to figure out how she did it and how to pin her for it but then Spencer showed up.

He walked in and about three hours later they had Harrison's business partner, Steven Barker, in cuffs. It turned out that Harrison and Barker were leading a drug smuggling ring off the coast and Barker got a little too greedy when Harrison refused to pay him more than twenty grand a month.

"Come on Lassie, please? Please, please, please, please, please, plea-"

"Spencer!" Carlton growled finally shutting the man up. "If you do not get out of my sight within the next five seconds I swear, consequences be damned, I will shoot you."

"Oh real mature Lassie, pull your 'I have a license to kill you' card. Well, you know what?" Carlton watched as Shawn plopped down on his desk and folded his arms before he continued.

"I have a license to pout and stare at you until you cave and I'm gonna use it. Gus, back me up here. Gus?" Shawn turned to find that Gus had wandered away to talk to Juliet.

"Gus!" He whined. "Can't you text your girlfriend with vague responses while she gets more and more annoyed like every normal guy in America does?"

Juliet, who had been laughing at something Gus had said, looked over at Shawn and shook her head while Gus rolled his eyes. "Shawn, just because you're afraid to have a meaningful conversation with another human being doesn't mean that every man is like that." He said as he walked over to where Shawn and Carlton sat. "Now hurry up or Juliet and I are leaving without you."

Shawn turned back to Carlton and asked him to come along one last time hoping he'd cave and say yes. That, of course, was wishful thinking.

"Spencer, for the last time, no. Now leave."

"Can't you just stick the paperwork with Buzz like you normally do?" Shawn asked.

Carlton shot him an indignant look. "I don't always shove my paperwork onto McNabb."

Buzz, who just so happened to be walking by, promptly turned in the other direction and scurried away mumbling something about his hand being all cramped up from all the paperwork Carlton had already given him that week. Carlton stared after him for while before turning back to the three.

"That proves nothing."

Shawn sighed knowing there was no way the detective would give in. He really wanted Carlton to come along. Last time was a complete disaster and he'd promised Carlton that he would make it up to him but Carlton wasn't giving him the chance. Honestly, he just wanted to spend some time with the guy. Ever since last year Shawn had been having some not-so-platonic dreams starring the SBPD's Head Detective and he was tired of sticky sheets and cold showers, he wanted the real thing. He knew it wouldn't be an easy task and, Shawn being Shawn, he was up for the challenge – pun definitely intended – but damn it all, Carlton just wasn't being helpful.

"Fine Lassie, I'll leave you with your boring paperwork but you won't get out of going out with us so easily next time."

Just as Shawn turned to leave a loud boom resounded throughout the station as someone slammed the entrance doors open. A hysterical teenage girl, no older than sixteen, came running through the station with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Uncle Carlton!" she screamed as she came around the corner and Shawn turned in time to see Carlton shoot up from his seat.

"Shayla?" Carlton said as the girl threw herself into Carlton's chest crying and speaking rapidly.

"Shayla? Slow down sweetheart, I can't understand you. You're going to hyperventilate, just breathe. In through your nose and out through your mouth, come on Shay." Shawn listened in awe as Carlton spoke to her with a calm, gentle voice and watched as he rubbed her back with one hand and her left arm with the other trying to calm her down.

Though she still had tears leaking from her eyes she was considerably less hysterical. When Carlton realized this he tilted her head up to get her to look at him before he spoke.

"Okay, now what's wrong Shayla? What happened?" His voice sounded calm but Shawn could see the fear and nervousness in his eyes.

Shayla sniffled a few times before she stuttered out a response. "Th-these men, four of them, came barging into the house a-a-and dad told me to run – you and dad always say that if you guys t-tell me to run that I shouldn't ask questions, just run – so I did…"

She stopped as more tears came streaming down her face and Carlton rubbed her arms. "It's okay Shayla, keep going."

"I heard g-g-gunshots and I heard him scream but I kept running. I…I think they killed my dad Uncle Carlton." She said and sobbed as she flung herself into Carlton's chest once more.

Gus and Juliet gasped and looked away while Shawn just stood there taking everything in.

Carlton stood still; jaw dropped and eyes wide, holding Shayla in his arms for a few moments before he gently nudged her to sit in his chair.

"Okay, I want you to sit here with – no buts – I want you sit here with these two," He paused as he pointed to Shawn and Gus. "while my partner and I go check it out, okay?" Carlton waited for her to nod before he turned to Juliet and told her to grab her gun.

Shawn watched as Carlton and Juliet quickly left the station and after a few moments, he and Gus turned to Shayla.

"I'm Shawn and this delicious bar of dark chocolate here is Gooble Gobble Gibbers…but you can call him Gus." Shawn paused as she chuckled wetly and muttered a quiet 'hello'. "So, you're Lassie's niece huh?" he asked as he sat down on the desk in front of her.

Shayla sniffled a bit before she responded. "Well, Carlton's not my real uncle. He and my dad have been best friends for a pretty long time so my dad asked Carlton to be my godfather. I just call him my uncle because – wait, Lassie?"

Shawn smiled. "Well, that's just one of the many nicknames I've given to him over the years." He said and watched as Shayla shook her head and mumbled something he couldn't quite catch.

As the three talked a little more Shawn couldn't shake feeling that Carlton wasn't going to like what he'd find at Shayla's house**.**

* * *

**Well, there's the first chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Let me know how you feel about it so I'll know whether or not to keep up with this story or just drop it.**

**_-Squeedle_**


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Wow, I didn't think I'd get so many reviews for that first chapter. Anyway, just so you guys know I want to try to get one chapter posted each week. Two chapters if I can do it but mostly just the one. Don't worry I don't plan on quitting this. And to anyone who I might've missed, thank you so much for the reviews and putting my story on your alert lists!!

* * *

*

Speeding down the road, Carlton couldn't shake the feeling that he wouldn't like what he'd find at Shayla's house.

He'd known Shayla's father, Allen Curtis, for a long time. He and Allen had been best friends since middle school when their science teacher, Ms. Adler, had partnered them up for a science project. They ended up with an 'F' because they spent so much time goofing off and laughing at each other about how horrible they were at science that they never even started on the project.

Carlton smiled as he lost himself in memories of that day but his smile faded when he pulled into Allen's driveway and remembered why he was there in the first place. He sat in the car for a few moments refusing to move, praying and hoping that Allen would be okay.

"Carlton?" Juliet prodded hesitantly reminding him that she was there.

They got out of the car and crept up to the front door. Carlton closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he kicked the door open.

He and Juliet stalked cautiously through the living room, eyes straining to take in every detail. A struggle was evident, Carlton was certain of that much. The remains of what used to be a beautiful antique lamp lay scattered on the hardwood floor below. Even though it was in shambles Carlton knew exactly what it looked like. He knew because it was gift he and Victoria gave to Allen for his birthday five years ago.

"Allen?" Carlton called as he turned his gaze to Juliet who was peering into a tall, handsomely carved armoire that was left ajar. All the china that was once displayed proudly inside it laid in ruins on the floor like the lamp. Carlton sighed sadly. The china was Allen's wife's most prized possessions. Maria died in a car accident nearly four years ago and Allen hadn't gone near the thing since.

Shaking his head, Carlton called out to Allen again as he and Juliet made their way into the kitchen. The first thing Carlton noticed was the food burning away on the stove. _He was in the middle of cooking dinner,_ he thought. Walking further into the kitchen a different smell wafted through the air. A smell Carlton knew he'd never get used to no matter how many years he spent on the force.

The smell of blood.

"No." Carlton muttered as he came around the island that stood in the middle of the kitchen.

There on the floor lay Allen covered in a disconcertingly copious amount of blood. The detective in Carlton took note of the bullet wounds to his upper thigh, his stomach, his chest, and finally his head…or what was left of it anyway. The human being and grieving best friend in him however had him whispering Allen's name before he turned to the sink and proceeded to vomit what looked to be everything he'd ever eaten.

He heard Juliet's gasped 'Oh my God' as he slid from the sink to the floor but his mind didn't quite register it. All he could think about was how he would have to tell Shayla that she would never see her father again, how he'd never again see the smiling face of his one and only true best friend.

How he – who could barely take care of himself at times – was now the primary guardian of a sixteen year old girl.

*

"Hold the phone, circle the wagons and back that train up. You're seriously trying to tell me that you guys are world renowned masters in sumo wrestling?"

Shayla sat with her knees pulled up to her chin in Carlton's swivel chair and giggled as she munched on some jerk chicken. Seeing as how Carlton had left Shayla in the care of Shawn and Gus the two decided that they would order in instead of going out.

"Oh no just Gus. He found out that the trick to getting them to let their guards down is screaming like a twelve year old girl." Shawn explained.

Gus sputtered and folded his arms over his chest. "You threw me into the line of a barely-clothed obese man Shawn. Everything was flapping, everything." He shuddered at the memory making Shawn and Shayla laugh at his misfortune.

Despite the good time they were having though Shawn still felt off. He'd gotten a call from Juliet saying she and Carlton were on their way back about ten minutes ago. Her nauseous and choked tone told him that they didn't find anything good at Shayla's house. It was unsettling. They had been gone for about two hours now and Shawn knew that when Carlton finally did show up he wouldn't have the best of news for Shayla.

As Shawn went on thinking he didn't notice Juliet come in and sit down at her desk with her face in her hands. He did however notice Carlton as he slowly walked up to his desk where the three sat. Shayla noticed too and the grin she had on her face instantly fell away.

Shawn, along with Shayla, took in his appearance. His normally bright blue eyes were now somewhat duller and they were glistening with unshed tears. He looked as if he'd aged considerably within the last two hours. Shawn figured he did.

"He's dead, isn't he." She meant it as a question but it came out as a statement nonetheless.

Carlton didn't say anything. He just walked up to Shayla and wrapped her tightly in his arms as the tears he'd tried so hard to hold back finally spilled from his eyes.

Shawn and Gus had the decency to walk away and leave the two to their grieving.

They stayed like that for a while – Carlton crouched over a bit and Shayla sitting in the chair – until their crying finally died down and Carlton realized that Shayla had fallen asleep like that.

Deciding that it would be better to let her sleep instead of waking her up for the car ride home Carlton scooped her up and headed for the station bunker.

When he got there he gently laid her down onto one of the cots making sure to lay down a couple of thick, soft blankets beforehand. He knew how stiff and uncomfortable those cots were and he'd rather not have Shayla wake up with physical pain along with all the mental pain that was sure to be there. He grabbed another blanket and draped it over her before he carefully sat down alongside her.

Carlton sat there looking at her as she slept. She didn't look so peaceful to him. She looked haggard and old, not anything like the vibrant sixteen year old he knew and loved. A complete polar opposite. How did this happen? How did they get here? His life had gone from semi-crappy yet fulfilling to completely incomprehensible in the span of three hours. The memory of Allen's body still played fresh in his mind. What would they have done to Shayla had she stayed there? Would she be as unrecognizable as Allen? Carlton didn't want to think about it.

He sighed as he reached out to stroke her long brown hair. He would have to take some time off of work, that was a given. Tomorrow he would pack up her things and take her to his apartment. He'd have to sleep on the couch but it didn't matter to him. Besides, he had more pressing matters to think about instead of fretting over waking up with a little back pain. Other than Shayla, Allen didn't have any other relatives and Carlton was the closest person to him. He was the only one that could take care of the funeral arrangements.

Carlton didn't realize that he was being watched until someone sat down on another cot next to him and Shayla. Still stroking Shayla's hair he looked up and was surprised to find a very somber-looking Shawn Spencer.

"Lassie?" Shawn sat there waiting for Carlton to say something but the detective just stared at him.

He tried again.

"Look, I can't honestly say that I understand what you going through right now but I just want you to know that I'm here for you man." Shawn said as he watched Carlton carefully. The poor man looked as if something had swooped in and sucked out his soul.

As sappy as it might sound, Shawn wanted nothing more than to hold him tight and never let go. He wanted to tell him that everything was going to be alright but he knew that it would be a lie. It wasn't going to be alright. He knew that Carlton would never quite be the same again. It hurt him to know that Carlton was drifting in a sea of sorrow and there was nothing he could do to pull him ashore.

Still watching Carlton, Shawn tried once more to get him to talk.

"I know I'm the last person you'd want to talk to right now but-"

"Go home Spencer." Carlton said. Never before had Shawn heard him in such anguish, it physically hurt him to hear it.

Carlton didn't watch as Shawn got up to leave, he just turned his gaze back to Shayla. So he didn't know that Shawn had turned back to look at him when he got to the door. Unaware of Shawn's watchful eyes Carlton leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Shayla's forehead.

"I can't make any promises Shay but I'm gonna try my damnedest to take care of you." Carlton whispered as he stroked her head one last time.

Shawn quietly slipped out of the bunker and sighed. _Poor Lassie,_ Shawn thought. He lost his best friend and became the guardian of a teenage girl all in one night. The guy was going to need some help, that much was a definite. Sure, Carlton's firm and there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that Shayla would end up in the company of a bad crowd. But Carlton wasn't exactly the most knowledgeable when it came to teenagers. As he walked through the station trying to find Gus he formulated a plan.

Operation Help Lassie Become a Parent and Stuff.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked this chapter as much as you did the first one!!**

**_-Squeedle_**


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I'm so sorry you guys! I know it's been a while and I'd completely understand if you want to throw rotten food at me...just please try to avoid my face.  
**Unbeta'd as always.**

-Squeedle

* * *

When Shayla woke up the next day her uncle was nowhere to be found. She searched the whole department before she finally gave up and asked Detective O'Hara where he was.

"He's at your house picking up some of your things. He should be back soon though."

So she sat at Detective O'Hara's desk and absentmindedly watched her fill out paperwork. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was worried. What was going to happen now? She would be living with her uncle now, she'd gathered that much. But what was going to happen now that her dad was gone?

After Shayla's mother died her dad was all she had. They would stay up late on the weekends and watch all sorts of movies or just talk for hours on end. Shayla and her father had the type of relationship that only few girls had nowadays. He was always there for her, even more so when her mother died. Now that he was gone Shayla didn't know what she would do. Who was she supposed to talk to now? Sure, her uncle was a good man and she knew he'd be there for her no matter what but it wasn't like she could go to him with her problems like she could with her dad. Shayla loved her uncle but he wasn't exactly the most talkative person in the crowd. _At least I still have May_ Shayla thought.

Bertha 'May' Mayberry, Shayla's best friend since preschool. It was snack time and she saw May sitting at the end of the table all by herself. May was the new girl and didn't really talk as much as most of the kids their age. Shayla sat there looking at May and thought _'She's gonna be my new best friend'_. So she stood up, walked boldly over to where May was sitting and threw an animal cracker at her head. Shayla waited a few moments before she smiled and said "You're my new best friend since your head didn't e'splode and stuff." May looked at her as if she'd grown not only a second head but a third and fourth as well and said "It's _ex_plode." Shayla just shrugged and said "I've heard it both ways." They've been inseparable ever since.

Speaking of May…

"Hey, Detective O'Hara, can I use your phone real quick?" Shayla asked as she pointed to Juliet's desk phone.

"Sure, but use my cell instead."

Shayla thanked her and wandered off to a secluded part of the station for some privacy as she dialed May's number.

"Hello, Mayberry residence."

"Hi Mrs. Mayberry. Is May there?" She tried to sound as casual as she could but failed miserably.

"Is something wrong honey?" Shayla couldn't help but smile a bit at Mrs. Mayberry's concern. She'd always been like a second mother to her.

"I just really need to talk to May."

Shayla heard Mrs. Mayberry call for May and waited.

"Hey Shayla. What's up?" Shayla's lip quivered a bit at the sound of her friend's voice.

"You think your mom can drive you to the police station?" She asked as she tried not to let her voice shake.

"I knew it, I knew one of these days your half-assed schemes were gonna land you in jail Shayla. What did you do?"

Shayla chuckled. "I beg your pardon but my schemes are never half-assed, they're full-assed and then some. And anyway I'm not in jail per se. My…I'd really rather tell you in person." This time Shayla couldn't keep her voice from shaking.

"What's wrong Shay?"

"I just really need you right now."

"O-okay, I'll be there in a bit."

As Shayla hung up she wiped a lone tear away and sighed. How in the hell was she going to tell May?

*

Carlton sat on the couch in Allen's living room and sighed. He'd been staring at the same damn picture for over an hour and he just couldn't bring himself to look away.

It was a picture of him and Allen on their high school graduation. Carlton was in the middle of flicking the tassel on Allen's hat while Allen was busy giving Carlton the ever-famous bunny ears. That was the same day Allen got a car and the next day they left for a two month road trip. They spent those two months in and out of cheap motels while seeing just about every grand spot Route 66 had to offer at least twice. It was one of the best times Carlton had ever had. Hell, he and Allen talked about it every time they saw each other.

Now it was just a distant memory. One that he'd never be able to laugh with Allen about ever again.

_It doesn't have to be Carlton_.

Maybe it was just him but the voice in his head sounded way too much like Allen's.

_Who knows, maybe you can take Shayla out on Route 66 someday. She does love to travel after all._

And with that Carlton smiled a bit, gathered up Shayla's things, and left.

*

When Carlton got back to the station he found Shayla, her friend May, Shawn, and Gus at his desk talking animatedly about some guys called the Mario brothers. By the sound of it Shayla and Shawn had teamed up against May and Gus saying that Mario was better than Luigi.

"Don't hate on Luigi Shawn. Just because he doesn't show up that often in the game doesn't mean that he's not important." Gus huffed.

"Yeah Shayla. And I don't care what you say I still think Luigi is behind the scenes keeping the spineys and goombas away from Mario. Luigi does the dirty work for Mario just I like I do the dirty work for you and your half-assed schemes."

Carlton watched as Gus nodded in agreement to May and then turned his eyes to Shayla and Shawn.

"One, I told you before May my schemes are full-assed and then some. And part B, are you really going to make this a personal attack? You should be ashamed of yourself and that shirt."

Carlton shook his head as Shawn nodded vigorously.

"What she said."

As Carlton walked over to his desk he couldn't shake the unnerving idea that the four of them were too alike for their own good.

* * *

**As I've said before, I'm extremely sorry for the long wait. A lot of things were going on and I just couldn't find the time to work on an update. And I'm also sorry about how short this chapter is and the complete lack of Shassie in it. I just really wanted to focus more on Shayla and Carlton then anything else. Hope you guys don't hate me too much.**

_**-Squeedle**_


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Everything below was written by the lovely SpookyClaire and seeing as such I think you, dear readers, should rush right over to her profile after reading this and tell her that you love her and want to be her 'very bestest friend in the entire world in the universe for forever' in those very words please because if it weren't for her this story would've been deleted by now.

**_-Squeedle_**

**Twists and Turns of Fate**

**Chapter 4**

**Note:** I hope this does this story a justice :) PS: Lyrics at the beginning are from Michael Buble's 'End of May.' Seriously, listen to that song. It makes me want to cry every time I hear it.

* * *

00

__

Golden haze, another morning feels like yesterday.  
End of May, now you're gone and there's still bills to pay.  
And you know it doesn't help to make believe, you're sitting next to me.  
It doesn't help, to make believe that you are right behind me saying,  
'It's okay.'

00

Carlton Lassiter was not a father.

Carlton Lassiter was not _ready_ to be a father.

He was not ready to deal with parent-teacher conferences. He wasn't ready to have to remember to pick up and drop off an unlicensed teen. And he was _really_ not ready to have the many talks parents had to have with their daughters. About…about sex, and…and that not-so-fresh-feeling and…and shoes?

Jesus Christ, he really had no fucking idea.

He didn't understand teenagers. He didn't understand girls. And he _certainly_ didn't understand teenage girls. And yet, here he found himself, lying on his bed (because after fighting Shayla about it for an _hour_ he caved and let her sleep on the pull-out couch), with a teenage girl in his care. She was his life now. He now had another human being to think about, to take care of. He hadn't had that since he'd been with Victoria and let's be honest, even then he wasn't thinking about or taking care of another human being. It just said on a piece of paper that he was legally bound to someone else.

But, he supposes, isn't that the current predicament? There was a piece of paper somewhere that said he and Shay were legally bound together. He wasn't her father, he was just the guy who she now listed in the 'guardian' box when filling out a permission slip. But…no. No. This was different. Shayla wasn't Victoria. Shayla wasn't a woman Lassiter had never truly loved, but simply married because he didn't want people to wonder why he was alone. Shayla was a teenager. An innocent sixteen-year-old who had lost both her parents in a five-year span. And he loved her. Loved her like a daughter. Which was going to make this a whole lot harder when he (inevitably) messed it up.

_Fuck_.

The previous day had sucked. It had consisted of talking to a lot of different cops, lawyers, social services and more lawyers. It didn't help that he was not allowed to take lead on the case, either. He was '_too emotionally involved_.' And, yeah, that was pretty obvious but that didn't mean he was any less pissed off about it.

When she wasn't also talking with all the various people, Shayla was with Shawn and Gus, and May too in the morning, though she had to leave in the afternoon to go to her part-time job. Lassiter didn't want to admit it, but he was really grateful to those two goons for being so good with Shayla. They kept her mind off of the horrible topic that everyone else kept asking her about, and kept asking her to relive. It had actually been kind of hard to get the three to say goodbye at the end of the night, the _long ass _night.

Glancing at the clock, Lassiter noted that it was eight AM, and that he had slept about seven hours. _Not bad_.

Had it not been for the fact that Chief Vick ordered him (though he did not fight her too much on it) to take some time off, he'd have been up three hours ago, and would have been at work for an hour by now. But, alas, here he lay, in his nice bed, listening to the silence of his apartment.

Or, well, it _had_ been silent.

Carlton shot up in his bed at the sound of something clattering in the vicinity of the kitchen. Cautiously, he got up and, gun in hand, he headed out into the hall. He glanced around the door-less doorway into the dark living room and found Shayla was still asleep on the couch. An afghan he'd taken from her house was covering her face, but he could see her hair splayed across the pillow.

Even more alert now, he got his gun at the ready and tip-toed towards the kitchen. Taking a deep breath he silently counted to three and threw himself through another door-less doorway and into the kitchen. "Freeze!" He started to cry, but stopped dead at the scene before him.

There, in his kitchen, in his _apron_, stood Shawn Spencer.

"Spencer, what the _hell_ are you doing here?"

"What's it look like, Lass-a-frass? I'm making pancakes!"

"Why are you in my apartment?"

"Because transporting pancakes is difficult and sticky and I so won't make that mistake for the twelfth time. "

"Why are you making pancakes in my apartment?" Lassiter asked slowly, like he was clearly trying to restrain a burning rage.

"Because pancakes make everyone happy!" Shawn eyed Lassiter, who was still holding his gun (though it was no longer trained on the psychic). "Except you, apparently. You should try my milkshake though, it's been known to bring all the boys to the yard."

"What's going on?" Shayla appeared besides her 'Uncle.' Her hair was messy, her pajamas askew. Her half-open eyes widened upon seeing Shawn in Lassiter's 'Kiss the Cop' apron.

"Mornin' Shay!" Shawn greeted brightly, "I'm making pancakes! Sit down!" She grinned at him and sat at the table.

Lassiter sighed loudly, scrubbing at his eyes. "Good mother of God…" He mumbled. He glanced at Shayla who was smiling, something he liked seeing. And though Shawn pissed the holy hell out of him, he had to admit: Shawn could make the girl smile, even after the nightmare of the past few days. He glanced at Shawn, who, in the apron, was not at all doing _things_ to the officer.

"I'll get the plates." He grumbled oblivious to the knowing look on Shayla bright face.

00


End file.
